New Year, New Project!

Happy New Year! 

I've decided to try the #dungeon24 challenge using the hex starter described here. I'm going to aim for weekly updates so let's hope real life doesn't conspire to change that.

If you haven't used the random tables in the One True Ruleset, you really should give them a try to see what the dice will generate. It's surprising how well the results hang together to form an amazingly coherent world (with a little creativity to plaster over any unseemly warts). This has the huge benefit of creating some really fun adventures without supporting the Death Cult and their anti-life agenda. I might extend the rolls to the lesser (though still valid IMO) works of the FF, MM2 and UA (sorry! I still like it in spite of the general disdain) but for now I'm going to stick to the challenge as issued. 

Let's see what we get, following the rules from the link above:

Start with a Single Hex

OK - I'm starting with a single 24 mile hex. Check out the classic article In Praise of the 6 Mile Hex and the also very excellent Getting a Sense for 24-Mile Hexes for some really great info. 

Let's determine the climate (@pearsesd forgot this part in his post - you'll need it for the wilderness encounter tables). Roll a d6 for cold/temperate/tropical. I got a 3 so we're in a temperate climate.

Roll d8 and d20 on Terrain Type Table (d8 selects initial type Headers. D20 on table)

I rolled a 5 (desert) and a 3 (plain). I wanted a little more flavor and looking at the Terrain Guide entry on AD&D DMG pg173, the sub types have some nice flavor so I d4 and d8 combo to get 1 (barrens) and 2 (steppe). Nice - this already starting to look good!

Roll on 1e DMG Appendix B for population (d6+2 on population center table will avoid populations of 80 or under)

I rolled a 6 (city) and considering the listed size is 10,000-60,000 another d6 gets me a population of 40,000. I'm getting heavy Lankhmar vibes now.

Roll on 1e DMG Appendix B for dungeon type (d4 on Ruins table)

I roll a 3 (shrine) so we're already starting to get a sense of atmosphere for the area.

Roll d2 and d4+1 on City/Town Encounters

I roll a 2 (nighttime encounters) and a modified 3 for the number of encounters. Three d100 rolls (62, 87, 99) which means I have a Night Hag, Thief and Wraith. This is awesome! The Night Hag is going to be a hidden hand pursuing a nefarious agenda behind the scenes via a network of catspaws, flunkies, and cultists. The Thief is, of course, the local guildmaster and the Wraith must be linked to the forbidden and desolate shrine of the dark gods near the city.

Roll on Terrain Type Wilderness Encounter d4 times

A d4 roll gives me 4 encounters and 4d100 rolls give me (10, 16, 32, 34) which means I have a flock (?) of griffons flying around, a hill giant tribe (41 on the giant subtable), a group of leucrottas probably being hunted by the pride of lions (or maybe the hill giants). Lotsa potential here...

With 17 rolls we've established a completely workable skeleton of a campaign setting in under 10 minutes. It honestly took more time to write the post that it did to generate the content.

More to come...